Monday, June 20, 2005

Summer reading

Everyone has a different idea of what makes for good summer reading. Personally, I've always believed the season to read is winter, curling up on cold days and nights with a blanket, a cat, a book. Summer is for... I don't know exactly what it's for, but reading is not the first thing that springs to my mind.

I've never cared much for other people's lists, that is, the recommended reading lists published in newspapers and magazines. Better to trust a friend.

Among my friends, then, I've come to count AS Byatt and Elinor Lipman, whose taste in books have proven a match for my own (though Antonia and I will have to agree to disagree on Harry Potter).

Of course, I read all the lists, not paying them much attention, but hoping to find new friends.

So what's Doris Lessing reading?
Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where do you find out what Elinor Lipman likes to read? I love her books and would be very interested in her reading choices.

Isabella K said...

Genevieve,
I stumble upon her reviews by chance (there's one in last weekend's Washington Post, and I've found her recommendations to be solid ones (notably Steve Martin's fiction).

I've never read an entire book of hers, though I keep meaning to — I've browsed them quite thoroughly in bookstores.

Michele said...

Doris Lessing lists Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, which sounds wonderful.

I adore the fact that you read the lists not paying attention but hoping to "find new friends."